hello I'm Lin Bondurant from the
Challenger Center for space science
education all of us at the Challenger
Center are very pleased to learn that
your class will soon be flying a mission
to return to the moon you might ask well
what does it like to fly a mission
well flying a mission is not like going
to an amusement park and writing a ride
but it's more like being on a motion
picture set where each one of you is a
star in this future space mission once
you arrive at the Challenger Learning
Center your group will be divided in
half half of you will begin your flight
in the space station the other half and
Mission Control you have a very
important flight ahead of you you are
going to return to the moon sometime
near the beginning of the 21st century
you're going to build upon what was
learned during the Apollo program during
this mission you're going to gather
information which can be studied later
in the classroom to determine where to
establish a lunar mining base everyone
who participates in a simulation is very
important to the success of the mission
as such each one of you will be assigned
to a team your team will have certain
things that you must do that relate to
the mission members of each team will
have work stations in both Mission
Control and the space station during the
mission you will work in both locations
in Mission Control you will work at one
of the various councils team members and
Mission Control guide the space station
through various aspects of the flight as
mission controllers you will supply the
flight crew and the space station with
information and images needed to
complete their tasks at the console you
will also receive information to record
from the crew and the space station
sometimes you will be able to see live
images from the space station the
monitors at the front of Mission Control
reflect what is occurring in the space
station the status of the mission and
also show data are video images as
mission controllers you have a very
important role that involves
communications and interactions with the
crew and the space station your job is
to help them solve their problems it is
your responsibility to know which tasks
the crew and the space station is doing
tasks cards will help you do this every
workstation in the space station and all
of the consoles and Mission Control have
a set of task cards that relate to the
jobs that 13 must do during the
simulation each task card has the steps
required to complete a specific task
notice that the task card has a start in
encode you are to enter the start code
when you begin a task and the end code
when it is completed to do this you will
use the cue pad at your workstation a
cue pad is not difficult to use as an
example watch as the start code is
entered from one of the task cards make
sure you enter the correct code after
the start code is entered press the cin
button once the start code is sent the
mission status board changes to let
Mission Control know what the team is
doing watch the mission status board
change as the cin button is pushed the
various tasks are carried out in the
space station if you are a member of the
lunar geology team you will work at this
station from here you can tell operate
vehicles on the moon surface tell
operations means that you are able to
operate something from afar you do not
need to be right there to make it work
the lunar geology team will also study
moon rocks in the glovebox
the medical team studies the effects of
space travel on the crew is there a
difference in the effect of zero-g
environment of Moon orbit and the
one-sixth G moon environment on the
health of the crew G stands for the word
gravity you will do tasks to evaluate
the crews health if you are assigned to
work at the isolation chamber you will
use robots to handle and study various
materials including lunar core samples
outside of the space station those of
you assigned to the life support team
will be involved in checking out the
various systems that produce the
artificial environment that keeps the
astronauts alive for example the life
support station monitors the oxygen and
water necessary for the daily needs of
the crew during the first half of the
mission the navigation team will be busy
choosing the best landing site for your
spacecraft during the second half the
navigation team determines the correct
orbit to launch onto from the lunar
surface for eventual return to work the
navigation team members will also have
several other navigation tasks to
complete as data team members you will
send messages and supply data to the
various teams you will also make
measurements on some of the lunar images
during the first part of the mission the
probe team will assemble and launch a
probe that will study the moon during
the second half of the mission you will
analyze probe parts and make
measurements of the lunar environment
Capcom in Mission Control and simcom and
the space station will be kept busy
asking for answers and providing input
as necessary to make the entire mission
operate smoothly well good luck and your
endeavors as you return to the moon
your flight will involve such things as
teamwork problem-solving communication
skills skills that you will use all of
your life may your mission to return to
the moon be a good one and hopefully
your flight will excite you to explore a
future career that involves science or
mathematics but whatever your future
holds remember to always aim for the
stars